Giant Cask

The Giant Cask is a unique piece created by Elvira Gazizova and Sergey Sidorov, founders of the company SemFor. This artistic project was conceived for the launch of the magazine ‘Saveurs du Voyage’ edited by SemFor.

This private initiative was financed by the company SemFor and technically supported by Nadalié cooperage and the adhesives manufacturer AEC Polymers. Neither the Mairie de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Fête le Vin (a wine festival), nor any other organization took part in the implementation of this project.

All these characteristics permitted the Cask to beat the previous record, established in 2008 by Albanian artist Saimir Strati, with his fresco of corks measuring 91.87 m².

The Giant Cask was on display for the first time on the Quays of Bordeaux during Bordeaux Wine Festival, from the 26th to the 29th of June 2014. More than 500,000 people had the pleasure of discovering this original work of art. After the festival the Giant Cask left the town of Bordeaux for the workshop of Nadalié cooperage in Ludon-Médoc, where it is now waiting to be transferred to its new permanent address…

The sides of a “Giant Cask” were decorated with mosaic. New and old wine corks were used for its creation; these were sorted by color (maroon, black, dark red, light red, dark purple and light purple) and size. The illustrations for the Barrel were created by the Russian artist Natalia Golovanova. The mosaic consisted of three canvases, all united under one theme – Aquitaine:

To complete this gigantic, ambitious and unique project, much patience, tenacity and determination was required. A big thank you to Nadalié cooperage and to adhesive manufacturer AEC Polymers, as well as to our team of volunteers, without whom this great artistic and human adventure would never have been achieved.